1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fruit and vegetable paring apparatus and, more particularly, to those apparatus which use a paring blade to remove the peel from a rotating fruit or vegetable.
2. Prior Art
The prior art discloses numerous devices which are used to peel the skin or rind from a fruit or vegetable. In a typical device disclosed by the prior art, a piece of fruit is mounted upon a rotatable shaft having a spindle or screwthread disposed about the outer surface thereof. Upon the rotation of the shaft, the attached fruit or vegetable will rotate about the axis of the shaft and be longitudinally moveable through the communication of the screwthread and the supporting, engaged block. The fruit is urged against a substantially U-shaped cutting blade which penetrates the rind or skin of the fruit and, as the fruit is rotated and moved laterally past the blade, the skin or rind of the fruit is pared from the fruit or vegetable.
The problems inherent in the devices taught by the prior art relate to the inability to control the dimensions of the pared rind. The cutting assemblies disclosed by the prior art will sever a strip of rind having a width and thickness which will vary. Most importantly, no devices disclosed by the prior art provide means for cutting the strip of pared rind into segments having predetermined lengths.
The present invention substantially resolves the inadequacies of those devices disclosed by the prior art. An item of fruit is rotated about its axis and is moved laterally past a cutting assembly. The cutting assembly includes first and second paring blades which are in parallel spaced relation to each other and penetrate the rind of the fruit to define the width of the pared rind. A third paring blade is disposed perpendicular and between the first and second blades. The third blade penetrates the rind of the fruit to a depth which is specifically determined by a cutting guide and produces a strip of rind. The cutting assembly includes a rotatable cylinder having an outer surface which is knurled or otherwise adapted to frictionally engage the surface of the pared strip of rind. At least a single cutting blade is radially secured to the cylindrical member and rotates about the axis of the cylinder at a velocity determined by the rate of rotation of the fruit. As the strip of rind is pared from the fruit, the rotating cutting blade or blades will cut the strip into segments of uniform length.